Kingdom's Interception
by BarryWritesStuff
Summary: Amidst the desperate search for Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, the dynamic duo of Riku and Mickey stumble across a familiarly cloaked figure, but the face behind the hood is a new one.
1. Awakening and Confusion

Deep within the Realm of Darkness, waves quietly lapped at the nearby shore, yet they didn't dare make a sound. A lone figure laid there face down, dressed in an all too familiar black robe. The water brushed up against him now and again, but he was too unconscious to care. From a ways off in the distance, two sets of footsteps could be heard, moving away from the water. Along with the footsteps, a pair of voices were present.

"Riku! Your Keyblade!" a small mouse exclaimed. He pointed a gloved hand towards what was left of a weapon the other, more normally sized person wielded. The previously sword-shaped object was now reduced to half the size, if not less.

"Yours isn't looking too good, either, Mickey," Riku replied. He gestured towards Mickey's weapon, which had marks of damage all along the blade.

"I guess not. Let's head back to Master Yen Sid's tower to resupply." Mickey suggested. Riku agreed with a nod, and the pair turned away from the water to return to where they came from. They took a few steps, but Riku paused.

"Riku? Is everything alright?" Mickey asked.

"Something… caught my eye by the water. Hold on." Riku said. He walked swiftly back towards the waves. He slowed down for just a moment, as he strained his eyes against the darkness, and then sped up as he realized the object he had seen was a person. "Hey, can you hear me?" He asked. There was no response.

"Hey, Riku!" Mickey called out, "What'cha find?"

"It's... a person! It's not Aqua, but he's alive!"

Mickey hurried over to examine the finding with Riku. The body was limp and unresponsive and was wearing a black cloak with a hood that concealed the face beneath it. It wasn't quite the person the pair had hoped to find, but it was an interesting discovery nonetheless.

* * *

The duo returning to the tower with a stranger in tow was quite the sight for the other Guardians of Light. Master Yen Sid barely seemed shocked, almost as if he knew this would happen, but Sora, Donald, and Goofy were flabbergasted. Sora and co. had come by to report their findings during their exploits at Olympus, so the whole situation turned out to be a pretty decent improvised rendevous.

"Garwsh, looks like ya found somebody, but it sure don't look like an 'Aqua'!" Goofy exclaimed upon seeing the body.

"Yeah, what's the deal with that? I didn't think anybody else was lost in the Realm of Darkness..." Sora commented.

"Maybe he's a friend of Aqua's?" Donald asked.

"That's the thing, pal, we don't quite know anything about him!" Mickey explained.

"We just found him right before we were going to head back here, so we haven't had much time with him," Riku added.

The room burst into a cacophony of hubbub, filled with theory after theory of just who this mysterious stranger could be. A major point that was frequently brought up was his black coat. It was an identical coat to the ones that members of Organization XIII wore, but upon removing the hood from his face, he didn't look like any of the 13 members. His now revealed face was beaten and cut, as if he had just barely survived a massive attack. His breathing was faint, but he was breathing. This brought up more discussion on whether or not he should be treated. If he was an ally, then he may be able to help in their fight against Xehanort. If he wasn't, then he could be very detrimental towards their efforts. Throughout the conspiracies, Yen Sid simply sat in his chair with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Eventually, the group decided to have Donald heal him, but have everyone stand at the ready just in case. Donald tentatively stepped in front of the others, holding his staff with a slightly shaky hand. The tip of the staff began to glow green. Suddenly, his staff went flying across the room.

Sora instantly charged forwards, Keyblade in hand, leading with an overhead strike. A gloved hand shot up and grasped the blade. A leg swept downwards at Sora's legs, tripping him. Within seconds, Sora had been knocked down and disarmed. The cloaked figure now held Sora at the tip of the Guardian's own Keyblade. Goofy then ran into the fray, calling out Sora's name, as Donald scrambled for his staff. The cloaked figure hooked Sora's shirt on the Keyblade and raised him up to intercept the incoming shield. Goofy slowed down haphazardly to avoid injuring his friend, but Sora was thrown at the shield, taking out both assailants. The stranger kept his distance from the rest of the Guardians, holding out the Keyblade, switching targets every few seconds.

"Who are all of you, and why am I here?" He asked. His voice was deep and monotone, void of any kind of emotion. It had years of experience behind it, despite his face placing his age somewhere around Riku's.

"You are in my tower. I am Master Yen Sid, and these are some of the Guardians of Light., along with some allies. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and King Mickey." Yen Sid spoke up from his silence, gesturing to each Guardian as he mentioned their names.

"Guardians of Light?" The figure asked.

"Yes. There's 7 of us... or at least, there will be 7 soon. We have been tasked with defeating the 13 Seekers of Darkness, or else all worlds fall into the hands of Master Xehanort." Riku said. He still stood in a combat-ready stance, but his guard had lowered a bit since the conflict.

"This isn't making any sense... Why am I here? Last I checked, I was in the Realm of Darkness." The figure said.

"Riku and I were looking around there for a friend of ours, but we found you instead, so we brought you back!" Mickey piped up.

"I don't remember asking for a relocation." There was a dark tone in his voice.

"You were in the Realm of Darkness, and you were beat up pretty bad! Who knows what would have happened if we hadn't saved you!"

"My statement still stands." He spoke slowly, with a hint of anger seeping into his words. Suddenly, Sora's Keyblade disappeared from his hand and appeared back in Sora's possession.

"I'll be taking that back, thanks," Sora said, slinging the blade over his shoulder in his signature style. He rubbed the back of his head where he had been thrown into Goofy's shield. "And who are you, anyway?"

Everyone in the room eased up a bit with the stranger now being defenseless. Everyone except Donald, who had finally managed to get his staff back from behind the bookshelf from where it was flung. The duck's eyes were narrowed and fixed on the cloaked figure with malicious intent and a fiery grudge being forged.

The figure hesitated for a moment, having been stripped of his safety blanket. He threw his hood back over his head, steeping his face in shadow. "Ryxelt. Don't forget it, and don't stand in my way," he stated. As he said this, a shadowy blob appeared around him, slowly engulfing him. He was fully enveloped as the last word left his mouth, and then both he and the Dark Corridor were gone before any of the Guardians could do anything about it.


	2. Loss of Recollection

Ryxelt stood alone at the top of the clock tower. The amber sunset over the horizon painted the scene a brilliant orange, and the calm breeze going by ruffled his black coat. He didn't quite know why he ended up going to Twilight Town, but he didn't have anywhere else to go, and the sleepy town seemed like a good place to lay low for at least a little bit. Besides, for some reason, it just felt right. Ryxelt stared off into the distance, lost in thought and contemplation.

_'I was in the Realm of Darkness for a reason, I'm sure. I had a strong reaction to being removed from it involuntarily...' _He monologued internally. '_But whatever I was there for is quite the mystery. There's also the black coat I'm wearing, and the fact that I can almost subconsciously summon those Corridors... There's something about a part of my past... No, all of my past... That I can't remember. I've been acting on instinct alone so far, and it seems to have worked out, but I should formulate a plan from here on out. First things first, my whole body's pretty sore. Maybe there's a place in town I can get a potion or something...' _Ryxelt threw his hood over his head, and disappeared in a black mist, only to reappear around a corner at the base of the tower.

The area surrounding the clock tower wasn't too busy, but there were a few people around. Ryxelt kept his hooded head down and walked swiftly. As he walked along, he heard little snippets of conversations. Some people talked about what they were doing that weekend, or what they planned to have for dinner that night. Ryxelt followed the path beneath him and the general flow of the crowd, and before he knew it, he was at a marketplace of sorts. A tram, or maybe it was two, ran around the pavilion every now and again, carrying people to and from the center of town. There were a few shops around: accessories, general items, and strangely, an ice cream place that was pretty popular despite the setting sun. Ryxelt walked over to the item store. It was run by a standard-looking middle-aged guy who stood confidently in the stand with product lining the shelves behind him. Ryxelt pushed his way through the small crowd that was around the store and arrived at the counter.

"I'll take a potion." He spoke in his deep voice. From within a pocket hidden somewhere in the cloak, he produced 40 Munny and set it on the countertop.

"Sorry bud, but I just sold out to the last guy." The shopkeep said. Ryxelt scoffed and walked away, snatching his payment back into his hand. He began to head back towards the clock tower to continue processing his situation. '_Great. Just great. The very first step of my plan is dashed. I half want to track down that last guy who took the last potion... Whatever.'_ He had almost left the plaza when he heard a high pitched voice.

"Hey, kupo! Heard you were looking for a potion? Come on over, and I'll get ya fixed up, kupo!" Said the white, almost stuffed animal-like creature in the corner. Ryxelt turned his head towards the creature, let out a sigh along with an "oh well", and shuffled over to the stand.

The stand was set up in a secluded corner of the marketplace. All of the civilians seemed to give it a wide berth, and for good reason, too. The 'stand' was constructed of painted cardboard, with the word 'shop' written on it in admittedly neat handwriting. Empty bottles and various accessories filled cardboard boxes behind the counter, and there was what looked like magic staff leaned up against the wall behind a particularly large box. The whole operation looked like a child ran it, and the owner itself didn't look too far off from one.

"You said you have a potion?" Ryxelt asked.

"That's right, kupo. 45 Munny and it's yours!"

"What are you on about? That guy over there," Ryxelt pointed over his shoulder towards the item shop, "sells them for 40. If you won't match that, you've lost my business."

"But he doesn't have any left, does he? That's why you came to me, kupo!"

"You're out of your mind," Ryxelt said. He turned around and began to walk away from the stand.

"You don't put up much of a fight for someone wearing that coat, kupo." said the white creature. Ryxelt stopped dead in his tracks. He spun on a heel and stormed over.

"You know something about this coat?" He asked. There was a sense of urgency in his voice now. He knew little of his own past before he woke up in the tower and wanted to learn as much as he could about himself. "Tell me."

"Well, that'll bring your total up to 100 Munny, kupo!" The creature cheerfully exclaimed. Ryxelt was furious now.

"First you charge me extra for a potion, then cryptically hint that you know something about me, and now you want to charge even more just for the information?! This is why I don't trust Moogles like you!" He ranted. The words just kept flowing out of his mouth before he had time to think about them. "Wait... did I say 'Moogle' just now?" he muttered softly to himself. The Moogle seemed to grin.

"So do you want the information or not, kupo?"

Ryxelt looked at the Moogle with a blank stare, wondering how he suddenly knew what the white creature was. "I'll take the potion..." He said quietly. All of the fury he previously had was gone, exchanged for curiosity. He pulled out the 45 Munny from within his coat and placed it all on the counter. The Moogle disappeared under the veil of the decorated cardboard and returned with a bottle full of green liquid. Ryxelt grabbed the bottle and turned around, silently walking away. As soon as he was out of public sight, he vanished once more into a Dark Corridor.

Ryxelt once more appeared on top of the clock tower, looking out over the sunset, which hadn't moved an inch since he left it. He sat down on the edge and let his feet dangle down. The potion surfaced from a pocket, and he removed the cap and swiftly gulped it all down. It didn't taste good, by any means, but it did taste familiar. His face quickly began to heal itself, returning to a non-damaged state along with the rest of his body. "Much better..." He said to himself. He tossed the empty bottle over his shoulder and listened for the clink, or perhaps crash, of the glass hitting the tower. But no sound came. Ryxelt jumped up and turned to face where the bottle should have landed, but all he saw was the same bottle, laying on the ground undamaged. "Who's there?!" He harshly called out. He received no response aside from the whistling of the breeze, ruffling his coat. Ryxelt quickly relocated himself to another secluded place he found. Behind an old gate, he hid himself away in a little garage-like area. It showed signs of people having been there, but nobody seemed to live there, so he figured he would be safe for at least a little bit.


End file.
